SCORCH

About the show

For those who don’t feel like they’re in the right life, on-line is a place to be yourself.

“Happiness. Aching, constant, consuming - on there it's more real than real life. I’m honest on there. I’m being honest.”

Out in the real world though, things can be very different. A story of first love through the eyes of a gender curious teen Scorch examines how the human story often gets lost amidst the headlines.

Directed by Prime Cut’s Artistic Director Emma Jordan, the play delves into the life of a young teenager who finds that online is a place where she can truly be herself and find love.

Scorch gained international recognition after it won the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play of 2015 and Best Theatre Script at the Writers’ Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Awards 2016 going on to win a Fringe First, the Holden Street Theatres Edinburgh Fringe Award and the Summerhall Venue Best Actor Award after a month long run as part of the Roundabout Season at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Scorch confronts ideological norms which have for so long shaped society’s understanding and beliefs. Actor Amy McAllister portrays a troubled teenage girl who is struggling to find herself and her identity and who’s new and first ever relationship leads to devastating effects both legally and personally.

“Happiness. Aching, constant, consuming - on “there” it's more real than real life. I’m honest on there. I’m being honest.”

Emma Jordan says, ‘I am hugely excited to be directing Scorch again. Stacey Gregg is one of the most important playwrights in Northern Ireland and this play really illuminates the experience of a young person who is in flux facing challenging issues of self-realisation.This is an important play by an important Northern Irish playwright and audiences will experience something pretty special’.

Stacy Gregg is a local Belfast born writer/performer for stage and screen. Her work includes Shibboleth (Peacock Theatre) Perve (BBC Radio Drama Award winner 2012) and Cows Go Boom (for the Abbey’s 20:LOVE season). Her first play Ismene was shortlisted for the Royal Court Young Writers Festival. She has been on commission with the BBC, and is currently on commission with the Royal Court, developing work on inequality, with support from the National Theatre Studio. Television work includes Raw (RTÉ), Spoof or Die (Channel Four) and The Frankenstein Chronicles (Rainmark).

The play is directed by Emma Jordan, produced by Una NicEoin, written byStacey Gregg, Designer/LX by Ciaran Bagnall, with sound design by Carl Kennedy, costume design by Enda Kenny and choreography by Nicola Curry. Thistouring production and associated outreach activity is made possible through funding provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Culture Ireland, Belfast City Council, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Holden Street Theatres.

Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and formed in 1992, Prime Cut Productions is at the forefront of contemporary international theatre across the island of Ireland. With over 30 Irish and Northern Irish premieres to their name, Prime Cut has a reputation for producing award-winning, critically acclaimed professional theatre that challenges, provokes, inspires, entertains and enthrals.